Jérôme M. Berger wrote:
> From the video, it looks like a real-time version of GNULactic
> Konquest (http://www.ia.net/~rsteffen/konquest.html but
> unfortunately it appears to be down)
> > Jerome
Actually it's turn-based. :-) If you want a real-time version, try Galcon. Sadly, Galcon was not written in D, and I didn't write it; but it's a good game anyway.
Mayhem Intergalactic has similarities to Konquest, certainly. Playing it is quite a different experience, however - smoother, prettier, and more enjoyable, at least in my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
Cheers,
Chris

Bill Baxter wrote:
> It also looks a lot like a real-time graphical version of Galactic Empire for the Apple ][.
> > Apparenly you can download from here if you really want to see
> interplanetary conquest rendered in glorious 40 column ASCII:
> http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Hotel/5926/apple2.htm> > Was a very simple game. Each planet produces some number of ships per turn (no different kinds, just one). Sending fleets of ships takes a few turns per X units of distance. Winning a planet takes around 1.5x number of ships as the defending force, but it's randomized so send more if you want to be guaranteed victory, and have some ships left over for defense. Try to conquer all the planets. That was it.
> > Is that basically what Mayhem Intergalactic is? My dad was totally addicted to that game. We bought used Apple ]['s after ours died just so he could keep on playing that one game. You couldn't choose a game scenario, but he found that if he did the exact sequence of things before starting the game the random number generator would be in the same state so that he could replay the same scenario till he could beat it!
> > --bb
Heh. Yeah, that's basically it. The details vary, but if you liked Galactic Empire then you will like Mayhem Intergalactic. There's a whole sub-genre of similar games. (Mine is the best, of course. ;-) )
By the way - Mayhem Intergalactic has a Restart button (not in the demo IIRC), so you can replay the exact same game again without resorting to tricking the random number generator. As amusing as that is. <g>
Cheers,
Chris

Chris P. wrote:
> Jérôme M. Berger wrote:
>> From the video, it looks like a real-time version of GNULactic
>> Konquest (http://www.ia.net/~rsteffen/konquest.html but
>> unfortunately it appears to be down)
>>>> Jerome
> > Actually it's turn-based. :-) If you want a real-time version, try Galcon. Sadly, Galcon was not written in D, and I didn't write it; but it's a good game anyway.
> > Mayhem Intergalactic has similarities to Konquest, certainly. Playing it is quite a different experience, however - smoother, prettier, and more enjoyable, at least in my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
> > Cheers,
> Chris
While we're drawing comparisons, was it inspired by Spaceward Ho? :) http://www.deltatao.com/ho/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceward_Ho!
I should try that demo out soon.
-- Stéphan

Chris P. wrote:
> John Reimer wrote:
>> Ho! The game of "Risk" in space! Great idea! :-)
>>>> I tried the demo and think it's great little game! I like the uncomplicated interface and strangely immersive experience. That music certainly sets the mood too.
> > Thanks! Yes, I've had several people comment that it's a surprisingly
> engaging game despite (or perhaps because of) the simple mechanics.
> > The music has divided opinions - seems you either like it or hate it!
> Still, that's why there's an options screen to turn it off.
>
Yes, the only problem with the music is that it is a little distracting and overbearing. It's a great choice for the mood... just a little too powerful. But like you said, one has the choice to turn it off.
> >> You could probably port such a concept successfully to a pda device too if D ever gets there (officially).
> > Heh. We'll see. Merely porting it to the Mac was tiresome enough, and I
> don't own a PDA, so... :-)
> > Oh, and it uses OpenGL, which is a bit of a downer for handheld devices.
> I could rewrite the renderer to use a 2D blitter of course, but it would
> be a bit of work.
> > It would be cool though!
>
Probably the best (read easiest) target for a PDA would be one of the linux based ones that are coming out now like the Nokia ones... or even the small linux based asus laptops (Eee PC). Perhaps they have Opengl ES and that might be sufficient. These would likely be easy targets for gdc, sdl, derelict, etc. (I have a couple of older sharp zaurus pda's but those have no market beyond geek value).
Yes, Mac seems to still be a little tricky for D because there aren't as many people using it... but there are a few resident experts here for that platform, so you are in good company.
- John

Stéphan Kochen wrote:
> Chris P. wrote:
>> Jérôme M. Berger wrote:
>>> From the video, it looks like a real-time version of GNULactic
>>> Konquest (http://www.ia.net/~rsteffen/konquest.html but
>>> unfortunately it appears to be down)
>>>>>> Jerome
>> >> Actually it's turn-based. :-) If you want a real-time version, try Galcon. Sadly, Galcon was not written in D, and I didn't write it; but it's a good game anyway.
>> >> Mayhem Intergalactic has similarities to Konquest, certainly. Playing it is quite a different experience, however - smoother, prettier, and more enjoyable, at least in my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
>> >> Cheers,
>> Chris
> > While we're drawing comparisons, was it inspired by Spaceward Ho? :) http://www.deltatao.com/ho/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceward_Ho!
> > I should try that demo out soon.
> > -- Stéphan
There's one I hadn't seen before! So no, no inspiration from there. :-)
As far as I can remember, the original original inspiration was some old OS/2 game that I played as a kid. I forget what it was called, and I think it was more complicated (it had a tech tree and multiple ship types). At some point I wrote a simple (and ugly) clone of it for a game creation system. Even with the lack of eye candy and features, it suddenly became one of the more popular games on the platform! At that point I figured I was on to something.
Cheers,
Chris

Chris P. wrote:
> Greetings,
> > I'm the author of the indie game Mayhem Intergalactic. I've been selling
> it since July, and I'm still working on improving it.
> > I'm making this post here because Mayhem Intergalactic is written in D -
> making it the first released commercial game written in D, as far as I
> know. Please correct me if I'm wrong. :-)
> > It's using OpenGL and SDL via Derelict, and Phobos (Tango didn't exist
> when I started). You can check out the demo and/or snag yourself a copy
> here:
> > http://www.inventivedingo.com/mayhemig> > Windows only for the moment I'm afraid. I'm still working on Linux and
> Mac support.
> > Cheers,
> Chris Pelling
> > > P.S. I know, I'm a bit late making this post - the impetus for doing it
> now was Aldacron noticing me talking elsewhere about Mayhem
> Intergalactic being written in D, and blogging about it:
> http://dblog.aldacron.net/2007/12/06/mayhem-intergalactic/> > P.P.S. Anyone who can help me fix the crash I'm getting on the Mac wins
> a free copy of the game. ;-) (See the tail end of
> http://dsource.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3401 for details.)
Nice work! I'm glad to see D making inroads into the commercial game industry. Looks like a futuristic risk game.
-Joel

Chris P. wrote:
> John Reimer wrote:
>> Ho! The game of "Risk" in space! Great idea! :-)
>>>> I tried the demo and think it's great little game! I like the uncomplicated interface and strangely immersive experience. That music certainly sets the mood too.
> > Thanks! Yes, I've had several people comment that it's a surprisingly
> engaging game despite (or perhaps because of) the simple mechanics.
> > The music has divided opinions - seems you either like it or hate it!
> Still, that's why there's an options screen to turn it off.
> > >> You could probably port such a concept successfully to a pda device too if D ever gets there (officially).
> > Heh. We'll see. Merely porting it to the Mac was tiresome enough, and I
> don't own a PDA, so... :-)
> > Oh, and it uses OpenGL, which is a bit of a downer for handheld devices.
> I could rewrite the renderer to use a 2D blitter of course, but it would
> be a bit of work.
> > It would be cool though!
> > Cheers,
> Chris
I think the iPhones use a version of openGL.
-Joel

Chris P. wrote:
> Oh, I see - you're still using SDLmain, but it's standard SDLmain, not a
> patched SDLmain? My solution doesn't involve SDLmain at all, that was
> the point.
Sorry, must have missed the point then...
> According to Sam Lantinga, SDLmain.c is public domain, but I can't find
> any definitive references to SDLmain.m being public domain, and that's
> the file we really care about for Mac OS X. So IMO SDLmain.m's licencing
> status is unclear. It's for this reason that I've constructed my own,
> independent solution.
I only use libSDLmain.a library actually.
Weirdo "Feel free to customize this file to suit your needs" license,
which would be easier if it was explicitly Public Domain like the other.
Probably only a problem with older SDL and MacOS versions, since the
new SDL 1.3 on Mac OS X doesn't need any special "SDLmain" any longer...
--anders

Looks great!
I'd be interested in reading a 'postmortem' of the project. What went right, what went wrong? What was easy and what was hard? How did writing a game in D compare with writing one in another language?
Ben Burdette